Anybody use the Craft Points Variant from UA?

[Samnell]

I'm considering allowing the variant as written in my games and wanted to get an idea of others' experience with it.

Do you find that PCs are more inclined to take Item Creation feats and use them in-game?

Do you think the craft points gained per level table is too generous? It seems like a lot to me.

Do you allow instantaneous creations? ("Oh! Wraiths. Well I just happen to have been working on this ghost touch staff here...")

My PCs are always rushing. I could tell them outright they have all the time in the world and they'll never take any downtime except for raising the dead and shopping trips. They rarely ever craft anything, mundane or magical.

Are you pleased with how the variant operates as written? Did you modify it? Tell me everything!

 

[Silveras]

It has seen limited use in a couple of PBeM games I am in. The PCs have gained 8 or so character levels in what is, basically, a 10-day span of in-game time. I have use the Craft Points to allow my Ranger to replace his arrows while "in the wilds", for example.

Instantaneous creation ? No, that's not what the system does. Overnight, yes. Instant ? No. Instant creation probably would be much less believable and more prone to abuse.

Does it lead to people taking more Item Creation feats ? Not really. I took them before I introduced the DM to the idea of the Craft Points system. I would take them when I thought them appropriate for the character whether the Craft Points variant was in-use or not.

Is the amount of points too generous ? Hardly. Rings, staves, rods, and high-end miscellaneous magic items will eat up those points quickly. And, the system does not change the XP or gold cost for crafting; just the time required.

 

[Mavrik]

We use the rules in game in our Underdark campaign... and it works well in campaigns with little down time... The thing to be aware of is the limits in what they can make in a single day, you need to put some limits in place to stop someone writing 20 scrolls or making 5 wands at higher level. I limit it to one item... but that could be a scroll with 5 spells on it.. per night

Mav

 

[Mavrik]

On another note.. what is does do well as a set of rules is make players think about what they do at night round the camp fire... it has made the group think about watches and camp etc as they also plan craft point spend, It can stop travel just being a series of random encounters before you reach a destination if thats what you want in your campaign

Mav

 

[Peter Gibbons]

I'm considering allowing the variant as written in my games and wanted to get an idea of others' experience with it.

Do you find that PCs are more inclined to take Item Creation feats and use them in-game?

It depends on the amount of downtime available in the campaign. If the campaign provides little or none, no one with any sense will take any Item Creation feats at all, so the introduction of Craft Points may make those (previously worthless) feats more attractive. On the other hand, if downtime is plentiful, introducing Craft Points will likely have no effect at all on the desirability of Item Creation feats.

Do you think the craft points gained per level table is too generous? It seems like a lot to me.

If anything, I think the table is too stingy. But then, I like crafting things.

Do you allow instantaneous creations? ("Oh! Wraiths. Well I just happen to have been working on this ghost touch staff here...")

No. The item is completed the next day. It's right there in the RAW.

Now, in a game that also uses Action Points, I might allow such an "instantaneous" creation for 2 AP or so, but so far the situation hasn't come up.

My PCs are always rushing. I could tell them outright they have all the time in the world and they'll never take any downtime except for raising the dead and shopping trips. They rarely ever craft anything, mundane or magical.

If that's true, there's no reason--none at all--to introduce Craft Points.

Are you pleased with how the variant operates as written? Did you modify it? Tell me everything!

We are currently using it as written. Not because I think it's perfect or anything, but because it's so much easier to tell people "We use the Craft Points variant from Unearthed Arcana" than it would be to say "We use something like Craft Points, but have made sixty-three minor changes to the standard variant, which are..."